- Godzilla Bandai 6.5 Inch Classic Figure Godzilla Millennium
Godzilla must save Tokyo from a UFO that transforms into the monster Orga.
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: PG
Release Date: 1-MAR-2005
Media Type: DVDGaaaaaaaargh! The guy in the rubber suit is back with a vengeance. Godzilla's back in the nurturing hands of Toho Studios, and they've beefed up the big beast with more highly developed spinal fins, resembling large crystals, and more menacing teeth. But he's the same guy in the rubber suit who smashes Tokyo's buildings and cars and dukes it out in larger-than-life smackdowns with the universe's monstrous villains. The plot is familiar to anyone who was a 12-year-old boy: Godzilla erupts from the sea for reasons that are never made clear, proceeds to wreak havoc amongst the buildings of a model city, and meets and beats a monster his own size, thus! saving humanity. His nemesis this time around is a 600-foot-long rock that scientists find at the bottom of the ocean and unwisely bring to the surface, where it proves to be an alien spacecraft bent on acquiring Godzilla's regenerative abilities. "A visitor from outer space?" exclaims one of the scientists, "My god, it's just too crazy to believe!" To which the lead scientist responds, "Right, like Godzilla's normal. Anyway, it's my theory that..."
The film is thoroughly entertaining, and not just for the breathtaking sequences of destruction that follow Godzilla's emergence and his battles with the alien space monster. These do have a preternatural beauty. But the human story, if you can call it that, holds your interest due to the shear preponderance of improbabilities it generates. You laugh at the "mistakes"--assuming they weren't planted there as amiable self-deprecation. --Jim GayThe theme to the latest Godzilla adventure sounds halfway between a classic m! onster motif and heroic fanfare, which appropriately reflects ! the cons tantly shifting role of Japan's favorite giant lizard. After all, one minute he's threatening to crush Tokyo under his giant frame; the next, he's saving the populace from alien intruders. (Of course, Godzilla inevitably crushes Tokyo while saving it--there's irony for you.) For this film, composer Takayuki Hattori (who also scored 1994's Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla) refreshingly opts not to overdo the action scenes. Despite the occasional, clichéd use of string and brass crescendos for dramatic effect, pieces like "The Self Defense Force Swings into Action" are unusually understated. Considering the bombastic onscreen carnage, this makes for a striking contrast. Most memorable on the Godzilla 2000 soundtrack is the unconventional music--the tribal drumming insinuated into the anxious orchestrations of "Giant UFO Approaching" and "Before the Explosion"; the soothing, hypnotic tones of "Wonder of G Revealed"; and the wonderful, modern rendition of Akira Ifukube! 's classic, "Godzilla's Theme." Tohophiles will also appreciate the inclusion of Godzilla and Orga sound effects from the film. --Bryan Reesman Godzilla Bandai 6.5 Inch Classic Figure Godzilla Millennium
